1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for providing toll free telephone numbers and other company information via the Internet or the telephone, and more particularly pertains to an Internet-based or telephone-based directory information system for providing toll free telephone numbers and other company information on the basis of when, where and how the companies using such numbers advertise themselves and/or their products or services.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Internet-based and telephone-based directory information services are known. Most Internet service providers have web sites that include “yellow pages” and “white pages” directory services, whereby a visitor to the web site can enter certain information concerning an individual or business entity and obtain the address and telephone number of same. Specifically with regard to “yellow pages” directory services, a visitor enters information as to the name of the business, if known, or the type of business (i.e., hotel, restaurant, clothing store), and, optionally, the city and state in which the business is located. The visitor transmits this information to the server supporting the web site of the service provider, and the server accesses information that includes the telephone number of the business sought. The server then transmits the telephone number to the visitor. Where the visitor cannot supply the name of the business, but merely the business type and city, more than one phone number is likely to be accessed by the server and transmitted to the visitor. In such cases, the visitor may be required to sort through a large number of phone numbers to find that of the particular business in which he or she is interested. As use of the Internet to retrieve information is valued primarily for its speed and ease of use, a visitor confronted with a lengthy list of possible phone numbers is unlikely to go beyond the first three of four numbers in any list, and thus very possibly will not find the number for which he or she was searching.
This problem of excessive, essentially useless information is magnified where a site visitor's knowledge of a business is derived primarily or solely from radio or television advertising (or other advertising, such as billboards, bus and subway placards, newspapers and periodicals, skywriting, etc.) for a product or service. There, the visitor may be aware only of the advertisement and its content, viz., the name of the company, the general product or service category, the radio or television station on which the advertisement aired (or the other medium in which the advertising was presented) and the date and approximate time at which it aired (or otherwise presented). However, without the approximate geographic location of the business (at least state, if not city), the server likely will be unable to locate the desired number.
In addition to “yellow pages” directories at service provider web sites, other web sites are specifically directed to providing toll free telephone numbers of companies. At such web sites, for example, http://inter800.com, a visitor enters information on the product or service, the company name, or the toll free number, if known. Such web site directory services also regularly permit the visitor to limit his or her search to a particular state. However, a visitor to such sites still do not permit a visitor to obtain information about a company, including the company's toll free telephone number, based primarily, if not solely, on the air date, time and station (or other presentation information) of an advertisement for a product or service. That is, a visitor to either a service provider “yellow pages” directory or a toll free number web site, armed with only the air date, approximate air time, and airing station (or other presentation information) of an advertisement for a particular type of product, will be unable to obtain the toll free number (as well as other information) of the company whose ad he saw, and in whose product he was interested. Accordingly, the web site visitor will be unable to obtain information about the product, and his or her purchasing decision relative to that product likely will be adversely affected.
Telephone-based directory information systems present even greater limitations. Usually, a caller will need to provide at least a company name to obtain a toll-free number for the company. Additionally, telephone-based directory information systems provide only telephone numbers, and do not provide additional company information which the caller may desire.
What is needed is an Internet-based or telephone-based directory information system for providing toll free telephone numbers and other information of companies, where the numbers and other information are provided based primarily or solely on information from an advertisement about products or services from such companies. What is further needed is a method for providing the toll free telephone number and other information of a particular company via the Internet or a telephone-based directory service, based on the air date, approximate air time, and airing station or other presentation information of an advertisement for goods or services from such company.
Accordingly, the present invention provides an Internet-based directory information system for providing toll free telephone numbers and other information of companies, where the numbers are provided based primarily or solely on information from a television or radio advertisement for products or services from such companies. The present invention also provides a telephone-based directory information system for providing toll free telephone numbers and other information of companies, where the numbers are provided based primarily or solely on information from an advertisement for products or services from such companies.
The present invention also provides a method for providing the toll free telephone number and other information of a company via the Internet or telephone based on the air date, approximate air time, and airing station or other presentation information of an advertisement for goods or services from that company.